Interview with Tonya Nagle, Publisher, Tease Publishing LLC

Welcome to Nights of Passion!

TN: Thank you for having me here.

How long has Tease been around?

TN: Since 2007. We started the company due to another company closing its doors and a few of us had no place to take previously published work.

So does that mean everyone at Tease is someone you know or have worked with?

TN: No, but we do try to make personal contact with or meet face to face all of the authors, artists, and editors when possible. There is something about putting faces to names or hearing an actual voice over the line  that helps with establishing relationships. A lot of people would say that the company is a business, it should stay detached and impersonal, but I don't work that way and neither to Stacee and Tabbitha. Becasue the company belongs to us we can choose to remain small and personal. It has drawbacks and benefits, just like any business. We are not the publisher for every author, and every author is not the storyteller for us.

Are you currently open for submissions?

TN: Yes, our EIC, Gail would love to look at query letters proposin some new books. submissions@teasepublishingllc.com

What do you think about the industry right now?

TN: Publishing is evolving. WIth so many "do it yourself and Print on demand" options out there authors are able to decide if they want to go to a small press, medium, or traditional publisher, or just simply do it on their own. Again, every author, every book, and decision will have pros and cons. The main thing is for small presses such as Tease to be aware of these changes and to be available to those authors who still wish to submit to us.

As for the industry changes in regards to print books, my personal view is that print is a dying market for small press unless it is set up for POD and the authors are able to buy their books and take them to events. Really, we have looked at the sales numbers and return ratio over the years and print almost caused our house to close due to the volume of returns. We have since stopped all print titles from being distibuted and instead we format them and load them internally to a POD source where authors can follow the link, buy their books, and carry them in to book signings. The majority of sales come from events and from personal interaction anyhow. On the shelf in a bookstore, if it can get in a bookstore, a ttile has to compete with well known authors. In addition, if a title is over 6 months old, stores do not want to carry it. Most small press authors can work old titles like new titles at events and such because they are reaching new readers, so the book is "new to them". In a bookstore, not happening. The staff knows and they don't want to shelve it.

If you set up POD and the authors order the print books themselves, what portion does Tease get from those sales?

TN: We have the luxury of not dealing with returns. That is worth more than money to Tabbitha (she does all of our Human resources, payroll stuff) and myself (since I have to be the one to deal with the physical books that are returned). Not to mention the fact that using some outlets we were not making a "mint" on print sales. It is the lowest paying source of income for authors. It is more for their own personal satisfaction and for their readers who prefer the book, than for economics. Economically speaking, print is a drain of money for us as a small press and we decided to use alternate means to stop that leak. The dollar we might have made off of the sale of a book is not worth the hassle or cost to our peace of mind.

What do you see for the fuure of Tease?

TN: I see a continuation of what we are doing. We are a small press, e-book publisher with some alternative printing options available. As a company Tease is known for romance. We have recently decided to create an imprint T-squared to handle the rest of the fiction and non-fiction catagories we had hoped Tease would get in the beginning. You can keep an eye out it by checking www.tsquaredpublishing.com over the next couple of months to find guidelines.

I would like to thank you for being here with us today, if anyone has questions may they contact you?

TN: Sure, teasepub@yahoo.com

Thanks for having me.

Filed under: romance